December 20, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Jim O’Hanlon
Culture Representation: Taking place in 1931, in an unnamed city in England, the comedy film “Fackham Hall” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: An artisocratic family is in danger of losing the family’s longtime manor, named Fackham Hall, unless one of their daughters gets married, to ensure that there will be a male heir in the family.
Culture Audience: “Fackham Hall” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and movies that mix slapstick comedy with racy jokes.
“Fackham Hall” is like “Downton Abbey” meets “The Naked Gun.” Some jokes get too repetitive, but it’s an overall entertaining blend of social satire and slightly naughty comedy with word puns and sight gags. The talented cast members commit to the absurdity.
Directed by Jim O’Hanlon, “Fackham Hall” was written by Jimmy Carr, Patrick Carr, Tim Inman, Andrew Dawson and Steve Dawson. With all these credited screenwriters, the “Fackham Hall” screenplay sometimes looks like it suffers from “too many cooks in the kitchen” syndrome. However, the jokes often land on their intended targets fairly well.
“Fackham Hall” takes place in 1931, during the Great Depression, in an unnamed city in England. The movie was actually filmed in and around Yorkshire, England. Fackham Hall is the manor of the aristocratic Davenport family, which has presided over Fackham Hall for the past 400 years.
The Davenports are beholden to an archaic tradition that will allow them to keep Fackham Hall owned by the family if the family has at least one living male heir: either a son or a son-in-law. A recurring joke in the movie is that the Davenports have a tendency to marry their first cousins in arranged marriages. (Underneath the plaque on Fackham Hall’s front gate are the words “Incestus ad Infinitum,” which is supposed to loosely translate in Latin to “Incest Forever.”)
In the beginning of “Fackham Hall,” patriarch Lord Humphrey Davenport (played by Damian Lewis) and his wife Lady Davenport (played by Katherine Waterston) are relieved that one of their two daughters is engaged to be married. The couple’s fickle younger daughter Poppy (played by Emma Laird) is engaged to her first cousin Archibald (played by Tom Felton), even though Archibald is a boorish dolt.
Lord Davenport and Lady Davenport think that their older daughter Rose (played by Thomasin McKenzie) is a disappointment. Rose (who is 23 years old) is independent-minded, unconventional (she sometimes wears men’s clothes and drives cars), and is in no rush to get married. As far as Rose’s parents are concerned, Rose is an “old maid.”
Or as Lady Davenport describes Rose: “a dried-up husk of a woman: barren, desiccated, a wizened old walnut of a spinster.” As Lady Davenport gives this withering description, the camera pans away to show that Rose is sitting right next to her in the room. “Fackham Hall” repeatedly pokes fun at “upper crust” society people who can be just as crude and uncouth as the “common people” who are considered “lower class.”
It’s explained early on in the movie that Lord Davenport and Lady Davenport had four adult sons, who all died in freak accidents. John died in the Hindenburg. Paul was struck by lightening. George died on the Titanic. Ringo died from auto-erotic asphyxiation. Beatles fans will immediately get the joke about the significance of these son’s names.
“Fackham Hall” shows glimpses into the contrast between the “upstairs” aristocrats and the “downstairs” servants. The servants are mostly underdeveloped characters in the movie. However, two of the longtime employees stand out by having the most screen time out of all of the servants: uptight chief of staff Mrs. McAllister (played by Anna Maxwell Martin) and slightly goofy butler Cyril (played by Tim McMullan).
The Davenports will soon get a new employee, who joins the butler staff unexpectedly. His name is Eric Noone (played by Ben Radcliffe), whose surname is pronounced No One. Eric (who is in his mid-to-late 20s) is first seen visiting the nun-operated children’s home (Norfolks Orphanage) where he grew up.
Eric has been summoned to the orphanage by Sister Jude (played by Karen Henthorn), who introduces Eric to a mysterious man whose name is later revealed to be Austin Blaine (played by Ian Bartholomew). Austin asks Eric to go to Fackham Hall to personally deliver a sealed letter to Lord Davenport. Eric thinks the Davenports are elitist snobs, so he says “Fuck ’em all,” which is used in the movie as a play on words for Fackham Hall.
While riding his bike at Fackham Hall, Eric accidentally gets hit by a car driven by Rose. Luckily, Eric isn’t hurt. Rose makes profuse apologies. And it’s attraction at first sight for Eric and Rose. Eric is distracted by the accident and meeting Rose. The letter is almost forgotten until a turning point in the story.
Eric needs a job. And it just so happens that the Davenports need an extra butler. And so, Eric is hired for this position. He has to share a small room with five other male servants. His first big task is serving during the engagement party for Poppy and Archibald.
The engagement party is one of the weaker aspects of the movie. The only purpose of this party is to introduce several “high society” characters who are somewhat meaningless in the overall plot. Archibald’s best man is Bert Chester (played by Adam Woodward), who brings his materialistic and wealthy American lover Fifi Valentine (played by Lily Knight) as his date. Fifi wants to buy Fackham Hall, but Lord Davenport admantly tells her that Fackham Hall is not for sale.
Other party guests with speaking roles are on the fringes of the main story and don’t do much but show up in scenes and make quipping jokes. These vague supporting characters include bachelorette identical twins Mary Bechdel and Constance Bechdel (both played by Erin Austen); Lord Davenport’s attorney Darvesh Khalid (played by Ramon Tikaram), who keeps telling his World War I combat stories; and JRR Tolkein (played by Jason Done), who is an unpublished author, long before he became famous for “The Lord of the Rings.”
Another member of the Davenport family who is in the movie is Great Aunt Bonaparte (played by Sue Johnston), a foul-mouthed elderly woman, doing the tired comedy stereotype of “old ladies who curse are automatically supposed to be funny.” Phyllis Davenport (played by Lizzie Hopley) is Lord Davenport’s sister and Archibald’s mother. She’s given even less to say in the movie than Great Aunt Bonaparte.
The “Fackham Hall” trailers already reveal that Lord Davenport dies at Fackham Hall. His body is found with a knife through his chest. What the trailers don’t reveal is that this death doesn’t happen until the last third of the movie. The person who shows up to lead the investigation is Inspector Robert Watt (played by Tom Goodman-Hill), who thinks he’s as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes, but Inspector Watt is really a clumsy and bungling cop who has a habit of dropping things and overlooking clues.
“Fackham Hall” co-writer Jimmy Carr (who is a famous stand-up comedian) has a small role as a priest or minister who misreads text during church services and then has to correct himself. This type of joke is amusing but over-used in the movie. The movie’s fart jokes are predictable and get tiresome very quickly.
McKenzie, Lewis and Waterston show the best comedic timing of all the “Fackham Hall” principal cast members. Some parts of the movie fly by quickly, while other parts drag. “Fackham Hall” is nothing more than escapist comedy that doesn’t get too dark with its satire. It’s flawed but funny enough for people inclined to like wacky comedy that leans into slapstick scenarios and intentionally silly jokes.
Bleecker Street released “Fackham Hall” in U.S. cinemas on December 5, 2025. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2025.